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Geometry Difficulty 6.9 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

Given a cyclic quadrilateral ABCDABCD. Line LL is a line through the circumcenter OO, and PP is a moving point on LL. Let circle c1c_1 be the circle through the feet of perpendiculars from PP to ABAB, BCBC, CACA; let circle c2c_2 be the circle through the feet of perpendiculars from PP to ABAB, BDBD, DADA. Suppose circles c1,c2c_1, c_2 meet at two points P1,QP_1, Q, where P1P_1 is the foot of perpendicular from PP to ABAB. As PP moves along LL, what is the locus of the point QQ?

Solution

As shown in the figure, let P1,P2,P3,P4,P5P_1, P_2, P_3, P_4, P_5 denote respectively the feet of perpendiculars from PP to segments ABAB, BCBC, ACAC, BDBD, ADAD.
Figure 1
Let M1,M2,M3,M4,M5M_1, M_2, M_3, M_4, M_5 be the midpoints of ABAB, BCBC, ACAC, BDBD, ADAD respectively. Consider ABC\triangle ABC. Clearly the circumcenter OO is the orthocenter of M1M2M3\triangle M_1M_2M_3. By Steiner's theorem, the reflections of line LL in M1M2M_1M_2, M2M3M_2M_3, M3M1M_3M_1 must meet at a point K1K_1 on the nine-point circle of ABC\triangle ABC. Consider ABD\triangle ABD, and determine the point K2K_2 by the same method. Since K1,K2K_1, K_2 are both independent of the position of PP, we will next show that QQ lies on the line K1K2K_1K_2, which will establish that the locus of QQ is a line.

Figure 2
We first prove: POCP1M1K1\triangle POC \sim \triangle P_1 M_1 K_1:
(i) Let the reflection of line LL in M2M3M_2M_3 be the line EK1EK_1. Computing angles:
K1M1B=EK1M1EFM3=EM2M1PFM3=(EM2M3+M3M2M1)PFM3=(OCA+CM3M2)PFM3=CGBPFM3=COF. \begin{aligned} \angle K_1 M_1 B &= \angle EK_1 M_1 - \angle EFM_3 \\ &= \angle EM_2 M_1 - \angle PFM_3 \\ &= (\angle EM_2 M_3 + \angle M_3 M_2 M_1) - \angle PFM_3 \\ &= (\angle OCA + \angle CM_3 M_2) - \angle PFM_3 \\ &= \angle CGB - \angle PFM_3 = \angle COF. \end{aligned}
Hence we know P1M1K1=POC\angle P_1 M_1 K_1 = \angle POC.
(ii) Computing the ratio:
M1K1OC=sinK1EM1=sinEOF=P1M1PO \frac{M_1 K_1}{O C} = \sin \angle K_1 E M_1 = \sin \angle E O F = \frac{P_1 M_1}{P O}
(since the length OCOC equals the diameter of the nine-point circle)
(iii) Hence by SAS we know POCP1M1K1\triangle POC \sim \triangle P_1 M_1 K_1. Similarly we also know: POBP3M3K1\triangle POB \sim \triangle P_3 M_3 K_1, POAP2M2K1\triangle POA \sim \triangle P_2 M_2 K_1.

Next we prove: K1K_1 lies on circle c1c_1; computing angles
P3K1P1=M3K1M1(P3K1M3+P1K1M1)=CAB(P3K1M1+P1K1M1)(since K1 lies on the nine-point circle)=CAB(PBO+PCO)=(OAC+OBC)(PBO+PCO)=(OCA+OCB)(PBO+PCO)=PCP3+PBP1=PP2P3+PP2P1=P3P2P1, \begin{aligned} \angle P_3 K_1 P_1 &= \angle M_3 K_1 M_1 - (\angle P_3 K_1 M_3 + \angle P_1 K_1 M_1) \\ &= \angle CAB - (\angle P_3 K_1 M_1 + \angle P_1 K_1 M_1) \quad (\text{since } K_1 \text{ lies on the nine-point circle}) \\ &= \angle CAB - (\angle PBO + \angle PCO) \\ &= (\angle OAC + \angle OBC) - (\angle PBO + \angle PCO) \\ &= (\angle OCA + \angle OCB) - (\angle PBO + \angle PCO) \\ &= \angle PCP_3 + \angle PBP_1 \\ &= \angle PP_2 P_3 + \angle PP_2 P_1 = \angle P_3 P_2 P_1, \end{aligned}
which proves that K1K_1 lies on circle c1c_1; similarly K2K_2 lies on circle c2c_2.
We next show that P1O1O2PCD\triangle P_1O_1O_2 \sim \triangle PCD, where O1,O2O_1, O_2 are respectively the centers of c1,c2c_1, c_2:
(i) Let the points symmetric to PP with respect to O1,O2O_1, O_2 be I1,I2I_1, I_2 respectively. Then we know that I1,I2I_1, I_2 are respectively the isogonal conjugate points of PP with respect to ABC,ABD\triangle ABC, \triangle ABD. Computing
AI1B=180(I1AB+I1BA)=180(PAC+PBC)=180(APBACB)=(180P2P1P3). \begin{aligned} \angle AI_1B &= 180^\circ - (\angle I_1AB + \angle I_1BA) \\ &= 180^\circ - (\angle PAC + \angle PBC) \\ &= 180^\circ - (\angle APB - \angle ACB) \\ &= (180^\circ - \angle P_2P_1P_3). \end{aligned}
Similarly AI2B=180(APBACB)\angle AI_2B = 180^\circ - (\angle APB - \angle ACB), hence A,B,I1,I2A, B, I_1, I_2 are concyclic. Also we know: I1BI2=CBD\angle I_1BI_2 = \angle CBD.
(ii)
O1O2CD=I1I22CD=I1I2AB×AB2CD=12sinI1BI2sinAI1B×sinACBsinCBD=12sinACBsinAI1B=12sinACBsinP2P1P3×P2P3P2P3=122O1P1PC=O1P1PC. \begin{aligned} \frac{O_1O_2}{CD} &= \frac{I_1I_2}{2CD} = \frac{I_1I_2}{AB} \times \frac{AB}{2CD} \\ &= \frac{1}{2} \frac{\sin \angle I_1BI_2}{\sin \angle AI_1B} \times \frac{\sin \angle ACB}{\sin \angle CBD} \\ &= \frac{1}{2} \frac{\sin \angle ACB}{\sin \angle AI_1B} \\ &= \frac{1}{2} \frac{\sin \angle ACB}{\sin \angle P_2P_1P_3} \times \frac{P_2P_3}{P_2P_3} \\ &= \frac{1}{2} \frac{2O_1P_1}{PC} = \frac{O_1P_1}{PC}. \end{aligned}
Similarly, O1O2CD=O2P2PD\frac{O_1O_2}{CD} = \frac{O_2P_2}{PD}. Hence by SSS we obtain P1O1O2PCD\triangle P_1O_1O_2 \sim \triangle PCD.

Since POCP1M1K1\triangle POC \sim P_1M_1K_1, PODP1M1K2\triangle POD \sim \triangle P_1M_1K_2, we therefore know that PCDP1K1K2\triangle PCD \sim \triangle P_1K_1K_2. Hence
P1K1K2P1O1O2    P1O1K1=P1O2K2(let this be 2α) \triangle P_1 K_1 K_2 \sim \triangle P_1 O_1 O_2 \implies \angle P_1 O_1 K_1 = \angle P_1 O_2 K_2 \quad (\text{let this be } 2\alpha)
So we obtain: P1QK1+P1QK2=α+(180α)=180\angle P_1QK_1 + \angle P_1QK_2 = \alpha + (180^\circ - \alpha) = 180^\circ. So the three points K1,Q,K2K_1, Q, K_2 are collinear. But K1,K2K_1, K_2 are both independent of the position of PP, depending only on the line LL, so as PP moves on LL, the locus of the point QQ is a line K1K2K_1K_2.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.